KATHMANDU, Feb 1: At 17 years and 103 days, Sundeep Jora became youngest male player to score a half-century in Twenty20 international cricket after staying unbeaten on 53 runs facing 46 deliveries in a 21-run defeat against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the first of the three-match series in ICC Academy at Dubai on Thursday.
He is the youngest half-centurion on debut match as well.
Batting fails as Nepal succumbs to 21-run defeat in first T20I
Jora broke Canadian Hiral Patel’s record which he registered against Ireland in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2010. Patel scored impressive unbeaten 88 runs from 61 deliveries which included nine fours and two sixes at the age of 18 years and 177 days.
Afghanistan’s Usman Ghani is third youngest to do same being 23 days sigh of 19th birthday.
Likewise, Jora broke Nepali batsman Subash Khakurel’s five years old record, Khakurel smashed a match-winning 56 runs from 53 deliveries against Afghanistan during the ICC World T20 Qualifying Stage in 2014 at the age of 20 years and 347 days.
In an incredible moment for any players’ personal milestones, Jora revealed the reason for not raising his bat after scoring the fifty. “I was more focused in scoring runs for the team at the moment. I knew, I had scored a fifty but I was concentrated on victory which unfortunately didn’t happen.”
Jora also is the ninth youngest player to make a debut in T20I cricket.
Fellow teenage team-mate Rohit Kumar Paudel is third on the list of youngest debutants. Paudel also holds the record for youngest male half-centurion in international cricket breaking great Sachin Tendulkar’s record during the second ODI match against the UAE which Nepal won 2-1.
